Portable drill with dust collection means



' May 16,1967 7 H. G PYLES 3,319,727

PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS Original Filed Jan. 23, 19634Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR May 16, 1967 H. G. PYLES PORTABLE DRILL WITHDUST COLLECTION MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963INVENTOR H. G. PYLES may 16 11%??? PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTIONMEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963 IINVEIQTOR H. G.PYLES May is, 11%? PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963 INVENTOR JZ WM fw UnitedStates Patent 3,319,727 PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS HarleyG. Pyles, Fairmont, W. Va., assignor, by mesue assignments, to GalisManufacturing Company, Fairrnont, W. Va, a corporation of West VirginiaOriginal application Jan. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 254,544, now Patent No.3,252,525, dated May 24, I966. Divided and this application Feb. 4,1966, Ser. No. 525,053 4 Claims. (Cl. 175-213) This application is adivision of application Ser. No. 254,544 entitled, Portable Drill, filedIan. 23, 1963, now Patent No. 3,252,525 granted on May 24, 1966, whichprior application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Ser.No. 827,317 entitled, Portable Drill, filed July 15, 1959, nowabandoned.

This invention relates to drilling machines and to mobile drillingmachines especially adapted to drilling Within mines or other low-roofedstructures. This invention relates in particular to drilling machineshaving dust collection means incorporated therein.

In tunnel mining it is necessary that bolt holes be drilled in thetunnel roof, or in the mine floor, at spaced intervals so that supportmembers may be secured in place. There are many factors which make itdiflicult to use automatic machinery in the drilling of these holes. Thetunnel height is low and, therefore, unless full advantage of the majorportion of the tunnel height can be utilized it is necessary to stop thedrilling operation frequently to add extensions to the drill. The drill,of course, must maintain a straight course throughout its full advancingmovement, and the mechanism for achieving this must not occupy muchvertical space. It is necessary often that several holes be drilled in arow transversely of the tunnel, or the path of movement of the machine,and much time can be saved if all these holes can be drilled withoutmoving the machine. Where the mine floor is not level, the problem oftrue vertical drilling is present for the machine will be tilted unlesssome provision is made to level it. In some cases, angular drilling isdesirable, or is necessary due to tilting of the machine. Still anotherproblem is the dust, usually rock dust, which is created by the drillingoperation.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a drillingmachine which will operate etiiciently under all conditions, to performdrilling operations vertically upward, or downward, or at any angle tothe vertical, without frequent interruptions.

Another object is the provision of such a machine having novel dustcollecting means to prevent the escape of the dust into the atmosphereof the tunnel.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunctionwith the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a roof drilling machine embodying theprinciples of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1,illustrating a portion of the suspension for the machine frame;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged partial vertical section through the machine,taken on the line 4-4 of FIG- URE 2 and showing in detail the mechanismfor moving and controlling the boom;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged vertical section through the drill pot anddrill, showing the improved means for carrying oil the dust;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a drill used in connection with thedevice;

FIGURE 8 is a detail view showing the drill pot and the rod which formspart of the parallelogram mechanism for holding the drill pot so thatthe drill shaft will be vertical at all positions of the boom.

In general, the machine takes the form of a low, selfpropelled car,having means thereon for raising a drill pot along a straight :path fordrilling into a mine roof or a mine floor. The car is mounted upon asuspension unit in such fashion that the wheels can follow the minefloor contour while the car frame remains horizontal. The drilled rockdust is removed from the hole through the drill and drill drivingmechanism.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 acar 1, which includes a frame 2 mounted upon a wheeled suspension unit3. The frame may take any convenient form, but is shown as consisting ofspaced, parallel side plates 4, interconnected by a front sill 5 and aplurality of transverse bridge members 6 as needed. The frame may besuitably strengthened and braced as may be required.

The suspension unit (see FIGURES l, 2 and 3) includes .a pair of sidebars 7 pivotally mounted on an axle 8, which extends completely acrossthe car frame and is supported by the frame side plates 4. The axlepasses through the side bars and projects beyond them to receive therear wheels 9 of the car. Although the side bars 7 are free to rock invertical planes about the axle 8, the wheels 9, being rotatably mountedon the axle, will have no bodily movement relative to the frame. Theside bars 7 extend forwardly beyond the sill 5 and pivotally connect tothe ends of a transverse equalizer bar 10, which lies in front of thesill and is pivoted at its mid-point to the sill by means of a pivot pin11, connected to the sill and projecting forwardly on the longitudinalcenterline of the bar. The pivotal connections between the ends of theside bars and the equalizer may be formed by seating the ends of theequalizer in openings 12 near the ends of the side bars, with theopenings being sufiiciently large to receive the equalizer bar ends andpermit them to rock in the openings. Front wheels 13 are mounted on theside bars on stub shafts 14 which are carried by the bars and projectoutwardly therefrom.

It will be obvious that a vehicle frame, mounted as described above,will maintain a level position and be subject to little verticalmovement in travelling over an uneven surface. Movement of one frontwheel vertically will result in an equal and opposite vertical movementof the opposite front wheel relative to the frame pivot pin 11, and avertical movement of the frame equal to but half the wheel movement.

The side bars 7 extend rearwardly beyond the back wheels and each onecarries a speed reducer 15 and hydraulic motor 16 (see FIGURES 1 and 2).The motors are operated by fluid fed through lines from a hydraulic pump17, suitably mounted on the car frame and driven by a motor 18.Sprockets 19 on the speed reducers carry chains 20 which drive sockets21 on the rear wheels 9. Additional sprockets 22 on the rear wheels andsprockets 23 on the front wheels 13 are connected by chains 24 to carrythe drive to the front wheels. This simple chain drive to all fourwheels is made possible by the fact that the wheels on each side, andthe drive means for the wheels, are all mounted on the side bars, sothat there is no relative bodily movement of the several driving anddriven elements. The speed reducer and motor also serve tocounterbalance the weight of the forward arms of the side bars and frontwheels, so that the side bars are free to move about their pivotswithout lifting excessive weights.

The hydraulic motors are independently operable by means of valvecontrol 25 on a control board 26 (see FIGURE 2), which is locatedforwardly of the machine and convenient to an operator lying prone uponan operators platform 27 mounted on one of the side bars 7. Theindependent operation of the motors makes it possible to turn the car bycontrolling the relative speeds of the wheels on opposite sides of themachine.

The car carries a boom 28 which lies longitudinally over the front partof the car and projects forwardly thereof to carry a drill pot 29. Theboom is mounted so that it may be moved vertically and the drill potwill be moved along a straight vertical path (see particularly FIGURES2, 4 and The boom consists of a pair of side rails 30 held in spaced,parallel relation by an interconnecting web 31 near the base of the boomand a bridge bar 32 at the outer end. The boom is carried by anelevating link 33 and an oscillating link 34, with both links beingpivotally mounted on the car frame.

The oscillating link 34 (see FIGURES 4 and 5) is formed as a pair ofarms 35 held in spaced parallel relation by a bridging web 36. The arms35 are connected at their bottoms by pivot pins 37 to longitudinalstruts 38 extending between two of the transverse tbridge members 6 ofthe car frame. The upper ends of the arms are connected by pivot pins 39to the side rails 30 of the boom. It will be seen by reference to FIGURE4 of the drawings, that the oscillating link may swing forwardly andbackwardly in a vertical plane about the pivot pins 37 and, in so doing,will shift the boom forwardly and rearwardly of the car.

The elevating link 33 is also composed of a pair of parallel arms 40,held spaced by a sleeve 41. One end of the link is pivoted to the frameby means of pins 42, which pass through the arms and vertical brackets43 carried by the front sill 5 of the frame. The opposite ends of thearms are pivotally connected to the boom by a pivot shaft 44, whichpasses through the arms and sleeve 41 and the side rails 30 of the boom.This provides a mounting which will permit vertical swinging movement ofthe elevating link 33 to raise and lower the boom. Due to the fact thatthe pivot 44 swings in an arc about pivots 42, the boom will be movedforwardly and rearwardly, controlled by the oscillating link 34. Themovement of the free end of the boom, that is the end carrying the drillpot, will be the resultant of the actions of the two links. The normalarcuate movement of a boom around a fixed pivot is compensated for inthe present arrangement by an equal and opposite arcuate movement of theelevating link, so that the upward travel of the boom outer end anddrill pot will be along a straight path. The underlying principle ofthis linkage arrangement is known as the Scott Russell straight linemovement.

In order to raise and lower the boom, a hydraulic jack 45 is employed(see FIGURES 4 and 5). The jack has trunnions 46 on opposite sides ofthe jack cylinder 47 seated in recesses 48 in the underside of theelevating link arms 40. The jack piston rod 49 is pivotally connected at50 to cars 51 projecting rearwardly from the front sill 5. The jack isconnected by fluid lines 52 with the hydraulic pump 17, and the flow offluid in the lines is controlled by a lever 53 on the control board. Itwill be obvious that the jack will be operative to lift the elevatinglink 33 and allow it to lower, thus serving to raise and lower the boomand drill pot. By connecting the jack to the elevating link midwaybetween the link pivots, and connecting the link to the boom relativelyclose to the pivotal connection to the oscillating link, a very compactlinkage is provided which will enable the drill pot to be movedalong arelatively long path. Thus, in a car having an overall height of but twofeet the linkage can provide for movement of the drill pot along a pathwell over four feet in length.

The drill pot 29 is pivotally connected to the boom arms 30 by means oftrunnions 54 which project from its sides (see FIGURES 4 and 5). Duringupward movement, the boom constantly changes its angular position and itis necessary, therefore, to provide means to maintain the drill potlevel with its drill shaft axis vertical. To accomplish this, a pivotlink 55 is freely mounted on the pivot shaft 44, intermediate one arm ofthe elevating link 33 and a side rail 30 of the boom. The link isprovided with oppositely projecting arms 56 and 57. Arm 57 is connectedby a rod 58 to one of the brackets 43. The pivotal connection 59 betweenthe rod and the bracket is a fixed point and, together with the fixedpivot 42, the pivot 44 and the pivot 60 between the arm 57 and rod 58form the four pivotal points of a parallelogram. Thus, if the positionof the pivot link is vertical in one position of the elevating link, itwill remain vertical in all positions of the elevating link. The upperarm 56 of the pivot link is connected by a rod 61 to a lever arm 62fixed to one of the trunnions 54 on the drill pot. Pivot 44, pivotalconnection 63 between arm 56 and rod 61, pivotal connection 64 betweenrod 61 and lever arm 62, and trunnion 54 form the pivots of a secondparallelogram. Consequently, if pivot link 55 is maintained vertical theposition of the drill pot will remain unchanged throughout all movementof the boom.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 6, the drill pot is shown to include agear box or housing 65 and a hydraulic motor 66 connected to it. Themotor is connected by fluid lines 67 with the fluid pump 17 andcontrolled by valve lever 68. Shaft 69 of the motor 66 is coupled to abevel gear 70 in the gear box, which gear is in mesh with a bevel gear71 fixed to the bottom of a drill turret 72. The turret is mounted on asuitable antifriction bearing 73 seated upon a vertical column 74 risingcentrally of the gear box. The column 74 is connected to thebit-receiving head 75 of the turret by means of a sleeve 76. A bit 77 ismounted in a bit seat 78 centrally of the bit-receiving head 75. The bitseat 78 and the column 74 are in vertical alignment. The bit head has anopening 79 from the bit seat to the sleeve 76, and the column has apassageway 80 in communication with the bottom of the sleeve. Thepassages 79 and 80 and the sleeve 76 form a continuous duct, coaxialwith the vertical center of the drill turret, leading from the drillseat to the bottom of the gear case. The bottom of the passagecommunicates with a duct 81 under the gear case. Duct 81 is connected byhose line 82 with a blow er 83 and from the blower to a dust collector84. The bit 77 is centrally drilled, as at 85, and has its shankaperture just below the cutting head to provide a plurality of inletports 86 communicating with the central bore 85 in the bit. Rock dustground by the bit in drilling may be drawn in through ports 86 andthrough the bore 85, passage 79, sleeve 76, passage 80, conduit 81 andhose line 82 to the blower 83 and into the collection box 84; In thisway the dust is drawn through the bit and its rotating turret and into acollection box without escaping into the air. The blower is driven by achain 87 from the main motor 18.

The car may be equipped with one or more stabilizing jacks 88 (seeFIGURES 2, 4 and 5) mounted on the frame. These jacks are fluid operatedand controlled by lever 89. The jacks operate to contact the mine floorand hold the car rigid during the drilling operation.

The car may also carry a cable spool 90 and a cable fairlead 91 (seeFIGURE 2). These may be driven from a hydraulic motor 92 by chains 93and 94. The cable mechanism may be used as a winch, or as means forraising and lowering the car along steep inclines, or with jacks formoving the car from place to place in the mine. The car may also carry acable spool for paying out or collecting the electrical power cable.

In operating the machine, it is driven by means of the motors 16 to thedesired place of use. The boom will be in fully lowered position and thecar can move freely through very low tunnels. The car can be steered byincreasing or decreasing the speed of the Wheels on one side of the carrelative to those on the other side. When the position of use isreached, the stabilizing jack is lowered to fix the car position andbrace the frame. A bit is inserted in the bit seat in the drill pot, andjack 45 is put into operation to lift the elevating link 33 and therebylift the boom and raise the drill. As the elevating link follows itsarcuate path, the boom will be moved longitudinally as well asvertically. This will cause rocking movement of the oscillating link 34and maintain the bit 77 on a substantially straight course, in thiscase, vertically upward. When the drilling is completed, the boom can belowered, the stabilizing jack lifted, and the car moved to a newlocation. The drilling will be substantial-1y dust free, due to thecollection of the dust from the hole through the bit and its rotatingmount.

The apparatus of this invention can be used to drill downwardly as wellas upwardly. In order to prepare the machine for downward drilling, itis necessary to release the drill pot from its connection to theparallelogram control linkage and loosening the hoses 67 and 82 so thatthe drill pot may be rotated on its trunnions 54 to reverse its positionto orient the drill holder downward. The control linkage can bereconnected, but the lever 62 must be reversed relative to the drill potto maintain the proper relationship with the remainder of the controllinkage. With this adjustment, the control linkage will occupy the sameposition as before, and the drill pot will be maintained in a verticalposition.

It is believed that the operation of the several embodiments of themobile drill and the dust collection means will be completely clear fromthe above description without the necessity of further review.

While in the above, practical embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed, it will be understood that the details of construction shownand described are merely for purposes of illustration, and the inventionmay take other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a portable drilling machine and dust collectingmeans comprising,

a wheeled car having main drive means mounted therea drill means,

drill support means carried on said wheeled car for moving said drillmeans in a vertical plane,

a hydraulic motor supported by said drill means and drivingly connectedto said main drive means,

said drill means having a first gear connected to said hydraulic motor,

said hydraulic motor arranged to rotate said first gear said drill meanshaving a vertical column with a cen tral passageway extendinglongitudinally therethrough,

a drill turret rotatably mounted on said vertical column and having bitreceiving means,

said bit receiving means having a central opening in communication withsaid vertical column passagesaid drill turret having a second gearextending there from and in meshing engagement with said first gear sothat upon actuation of said hydraulic motor said first gear rotates saiddrill turret through said second gear,

a drill bit secured in said bit receiving means and having an axial boreextending longitudinally therethrough, said bit axial bore communicatingwith said bit receiving means central opening,

said bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore,

dust collection means mounted on said wheeled car 6 and having a dustreceiver spaced from said drill means,

a conduit connected at one end to said vertical column centralpassageway and to said dust collection means, and

suction means connected to said dust collection means operable towithdraw dust formed by said drill bit through said dust ports in saiddrill bit and through said communicating passageways in said drill bitreceiving means, said drill turret vertical column and said conduit intosaid dust collection means while said hydraulic motor rotates said drillturret.

2. The combination of a portable drilling machine and dust collectingmeans comprising,

a wheeled car having a frame,

main drive means for said Wheeled car mounted on said frame,

a boom pivotally mounted on one end on said frame for swinging movementin a vertical plane,

a drill pot pivotally mounted on the other end of said boom remote fromsaid wheeled car frame,

a hydraulic motor supported by said boom drill pot and connected to saidmain drive means,

a first bevel gear positioned within said boom drill pot and drivinglyconnected to said hydraulic motor, said hydraulic motor arranged torotate said first bevel gear,

an upwardly extending vertical column integral with the bottom of saiddrill pot and having one end extending into the interior of said drillpot in spaced relation to said first bevel gear,

said vertical column having a central passageway extendinglongitudinally therethrough,

a drill turret rotatably mounted on said vertical column and extendinginto the interior of said drill pot, said drill turret having a secondbevel gear within the interior of said drill pot,

said second bevel gear meshing with said first bevel gear so that uponrotation of said hydraulic motor the drill turret rotates on saidvertical column,

Said drill turret having bit receiving means with a vertical passagewaycommunicating with said vertical column central passageway,

a drill bit secured in said bit receiving means and having an axial boreextending longitudinally therethrough, said bit axial bore communicatingwith said bit receiving means vertical passageway,

said drill bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore,

dust collection means mounted on said wheeled car and having a dustreceiver spaced from said drill means,

a conduit connected at one end to said vertical column centralpassageway and to said dust collection means, and

suction means connected to said dust collection means operable towithdraw dust formed by said drill bit through said dust ports in saiddrill bit and through said communicating passageways in said drill bitreceiving means, said drill pot vertical column and said conduit intosaid dust collection means while said hydraulic motor rotates said drillturret.

3. A rotary drill apparatus comprising,

a housing having a bottom portion with a vertical column extendingupwardly into said housing, said vertical column having a centralpassageway extending longitudinally therethrough,

bit receiving means rotatably supported on said vertical column, saidbit receiving means having a central opening extending longitudinallytherethrough and communicating with said central passageway,

a first gear rotatably supported in said housing,

drive means carried by said housing and drivingly connected to saidfirst gear, said bit receiving means having a second gear extendingtherefrom and in meshing relation with said first gear so that saiddrive means is operable to said first and second gear to rotate said bitreceiving means on said vertical column,

a drill bit secured to said bit receiving means and rotatable therewith,said drill bit having an axial bore extending longitudinallytherethrough and communicating with said bit receiving means centralopening,

said drill bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore, and

suction means connected to said vertical column central passagewayexternally of said housing and operable to withdraw dust formed by saiddrill bit through said dust ports into said drill bit axial bore andthrough said communicating passageways in said drill bit receiving meansand said vertical column while said drive means rotates said bit.

4. A rotary drill apparatus comprising,

a gear box having a bottom portion with a vertical column extendingupwardly into the interior of said gear box,

said vertical column having a central passageway extendinglongitudinally therethrough,

a drill turret rotatably mounted on said gear box and having a portionextending into said gear box and rotatably supported on said verticalcolumn, said drill turret having a passageway extending therethrough incommunication with said vertical column central passageway,

a first gear rotatably mounted in said gear box,

a hydraulic motor carried by said gear box and drivingly connected tosaid first gear,

said drill turret having a second gear extending therefrom within saidgear box in meshing relation with said first gear so that said hydraulicmotor is operable through said meshing gears to rotate said turret onsaid gear box vertical column,

a drill bit secured to said drill turret and rotatable therewith, saiddrill bit having an axial bore extending longitudinally therethrough andcommunicating with said drill turret passageway, said drill bit havingdust ports opening into said axial bore, and

suction means connected to said gear box vertical column centralpassageway externally of said housing and operable to withdraw dustformed by said drill bit through said dust ports into said drill bitaxial bore and through said communicating passageways in said drillturret and said gear box vertical column while said hydraulic motorrotates said drill bit.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,121,858 6/1938Chew 175213 2,683,587 7/1954 Gunning 175206 X 2,843,361 7/1958 Miller175206 X 2,854,217 9/1958 Benjamin 173-27 X 2,919,901 1/1960 Sandvig175206 X CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

N. C. BYERS, Assistant Examiner.

2. THE COMBINATION OF A PORTABLE DRILLING MACHINE AND DUST COLLECTINGMEANS COMPRISING, A WHEELED CAR HAVING A FRAME, MAIN DRIVE MEANS FORSAID WHEELED CAR MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, A BOOM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON ONEEND ON SAID FRAME FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT IN A VERTICAL PLANE, A DRILL POTPIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID BOOM REMOTE FROM SAID WHEELEDCAR FRAME, A HYDRAULIC MOTOR SUPPORTED BY SAID BOOM DRILL POT ANDCONNECTED TO SAID MAIN DRIVE MEANS, A FIRST BEVEL GEAR POSITIONED WITHINSAID BOOM DRILL POT AND DRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR,SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR ARRANGED TO ROTATE SAID FIRST BEVEL GEAR, ANUPWARDLY EXTENDING VERTICAL COLUMN INTEGRAL WITH THE BOTTOM OF SAIDDRILL POT AND HAVING ONE END EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILLPOT IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID FIRST BEVEL GEAR, SAID VERTICAL COLUMNHAVING A CENTRAL PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THERETHROUGH, ADRILL TURRET ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID VERTICAL COLUMN AND EXTENDINGINTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILL POT, SAID DRILL TURRET HAVING A SECONDBEVEL GEAR WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILL POT, SAID SECOND BEVEL GEARMESHING WITH SAID FIRST BEVEL GEAR SO THAT UPON ROTATION OF SAIDHYDRAULIC MOTOR THE DRILL TURRET ROTATES ON SAID VERTICAL COLUMN,